Alabama vs. Mississippi - Game Notes 10/15

Alabama travels to Oxford to take on Mississippi at Vaughn-Hemingway Stadium. The Rebels are currently 2-3 overall and 0-2 in SEC play. Mississippi enjoyed a bye last week and, prior to that, stepped out of conference play to take on Fresno State on the road. The Rebels came away with a 38-28 victory in that contest. The game will air on ESPN2 with Mark Jones serving as the play-by-play announcer, and Ed Cunningham at his side as the color analyst. The two will be joined by sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards. Eli Gold and Phil Savage will handle the radio call on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, with Chris Stewart serving as sideline reporter.

HEAD COACH NICK SABAN:

Alabama head coach Nick Saban (Kent State, 1973) is in his fifth season with the Crimson Tide. Named the school's 27th head coach on Jan. 3, 2007, Saban has compiled a 44-11 record (49-11 before five vacated wins in 2007) at Alabama while leading the Tide to two SEC Western Division championships, one conference title and one national championship. Saban holds a career record of 135-53-1 (140-53-1) as a collegiate head coach, while also serving at Toledo, Michigan State and LSU. Saban won his first national championship as head coach of the LSU Tigers in 2003, guiding the Tigers to a 13-1 record that season. Overall, Saban has coached four conference championship teams (1990 Mid-American, 2001 SEC, 2003 SEC and 2009 SEC) and 11 of his 14 teams have played in postseason bowl games with the Tide appearing in a bowl game each year under Saban's direction. Saban is also the only active coach to win two BCS National Championships and the first to accomplish the feat at two different schools.

RANKINGS:

In the latest polls released on October 9, Alabama remains at No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 3 in the USA TODAY Coaches' Poll. Mississippi is not ranked in either poll.

MISSISSIPPI SERIES:

The Crimson Tide leads the series against Mississippi 44-9-2 (48-8-2 before forfeited and vacated games). This will be the 59th meeting between the teams, but only the 10th time Alabama has played the Rebels in Oxford. Of the previous nine meetings at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Alabama has won seven times (three of the seven wins were taken away after NCAA forfeit and vacation rulings).

NEXT GAME:

Alabama returns home for an SEC Eastern Division matchup against Tennessee in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, October 22. This will be the 93rd meeting between the Crimson Tide and Volunteers. Alabama has won four straight games in the series that dates back to the 1901 season. Overall, the Tide leads the series 47-38-7 and has posted a 25-18-6 record against Tennessee at home.